New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said the Black Caps will be keeping a close eye on the clash between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Friday, February 27 in Pallekele.
T20 World Cup in New Zealand semi-final hopes suffered a significant setback after their four-wicket defeat to England at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Despite the loss, the Kiwis remain second in the points table with three points and a net rate of +1.390. However, their qualification is now in jeopardy. If Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 65 runs or more or chase down the target within 13 runs, they will advance to the semi-finals and knock out Santner’s side.
Santner acknowledged that his team will be watching the Super 8 contest closely and hopes that Pakistan do not fall short against Sri Lanka.
“Yeah, we’ll probably watch the game tomorrow. So yeah, thank you,” Santner said after the match.
‘REHAN WASN’T A FAZER’
Santner also reserved praise for Rehan Ahmed, who produced a crucial 19-run cameo from just seven balls, hitting one four and two sixes to help England chase down 160 with three balls to spare. He also featured in an unbeaten partnership of 44 runs for the seventh wicket with Will Jacks, who contributed 32 off 18 deliveries.
Santner noted that Rehan showed remarkable composure under pressure and did not get overwhelmed by high-stakes situations.
“He showed his class with the bat, a good spin player and didn’t let him down. He was set up by Bants (Tom Banton) and Curran (Sam Curran) after he lost a couple early on,” added Santner.
With 43 runs needed from the last three overs, New Zealand looked to be in control and firm favorites to seal victory. However, Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks had other ideas and combined to help England wrest victory from the jaws of defeat.
Rachin Ravindra, fresh from his match-winning performance against Sri Lanka, once again impressed with the ball, finishing with excellent figures of 4-0-19-3. However, despite his valiant efforts, New Zealand were unable to close out the game and ultimately fell short.
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
28 Feb 2026 0:07 IST
